The Campus and Facilities

Ohio Northern University is a safe, friendly, beautiful residential campus, situated on nearly 342 acres in the small town of Ada (pop. 5,000) in northwest Ohio. ONU is located within 90 minutes of several major cities: Dayton, Columbus, Toledo and Ft. Wayne, Ind.

Lehr Memorial Building (1915) contains the offices of Human Resources, the Controller and the Registrar on the first floor. The offices of the president, vice president for academic affairs, vice president for financial affairs, vice president for advancement and institutional research are on the second floor. On the third floor are the offices of Development and Communications and Marketing.

Hill Memorial Building (1915) contains classrooms and offices for the Department of History, Politics, and Justice, and the Department of Psychology and Sociology.

Dukes Memorial Building (1901-02), Freeman Annex (1995) and Cornetet Addition (2003) contain offices and classrooms for the Department of English, the Department of Modern Languages, and the Center for Teacher Education. The office of the dean of the College of Arts & Sciences also is in Dukes Memorial.

James F. Dicke Hall (2003) is the state-of-the-art home of The James F. Dicke College of Business Administration. In addition to high-technology classrooms and break-out rooms, the building houses an entrepreneurship program. The atrium features a 160-foot-long, two-story lobby. The Dicke Forum accommodates formal meetings and events with the latest in communicationstechnology.

The DeBow and Catherine Freed Center for the Performing Arts (1991) consists of a performance center and an educational complex. The performance center features the 550-seat Eleanor Biggs Theatre/ Concert Hall, the 120-seat Stambaugh Studio Theatre and state-of-the-art production support facilities. The Albert and Harriet Smith Educational Complex is home to the Departments of Communication and Media Studies and Theatre Arts and houses classrooms, faculty offices, a desktop publishing computer laboratory, and television and radio production facilities, including WONB, the University’s 3,000-watt FM radio station.

Presser Hall (1929) includes the 156-seat Snyder Recital Hall, a rehearsal room for band, choir, orchestra and other ensembles, teaching studios, an electronic piano lab, an electronic synthesizer lab, classrooms, choral and instrumental music libraries, and faculty offices. A twostory addition (1998) increased the number of practice rooms and added the Foley Rehearsal Hall as well as additional faculty studio offices.

Taft Memorial Building (1929) houses the Department of Technological Studies and the Kuka Robotics Center of Excellence.

The Tilton Hall of Law (1973) contains classrooms, seminar rooms, the moot court rooms, faculty offices and administrative offices. Recent renovations include installing technology presentation podiums in some classrooms, plasma televisions in the classrooms, and wireless technology throughout the building and library. Learning spaces have been upgraded to incorporate current legal technology in a functional modern environment. The Taggart Law Library is also located in this building. The library contains more than 430,000 volumes, is open 113 hours per week, and provides more than 280 seats, individual study carrels, study rooms, pecial collections and conference rooms. Every seat is wired for electricity and internet connectivity. A portion of the law library was renovated as the Hanson Reading Room (2008). The Law College dedicated its newly renovated Alumni Moot Court Room in 2011 containing the latest in courtroom technology and providing students an opportunity to hone their advocacy skills in a real-world environment. The courtroom is used for both classes and moot court competitions with seating for 30 students. In 2012, the library renovated its Rare Book and Special Collections Room. This attractive new room has numerous display cases and a museum-quality temperature and humidity-controlled environment to preserve the collection.

The Heterick Memorial Library (1968), the University’s main library, provides individual study carrels, study rooms, special collections and a conference room. A third floor was added and extensive remodeling was completed in 2000. In 2005, the Spar/Wintzer Music Media Center opened on the first floor.

McIntosh Center (1959) provides a center for student activities, both social and extracurricular, for the University community and for public organizations. The Information Desk provides a central location for students and guests to the campus to obtain general assistance. The student dining room the, the faculty staff dining room, White Bear Inn provide meals and snacks for students and the general public. The building includes a centralized mail room, informal lounge, conference rooms, a general activities room and formal ballroom. The University bookstore and offices of the vice president for student affairs are located on the first floor of McIntosh Center. The second floor houses the Polar Careers office. The offices of student newspaper, The Northern Review, are located on the lower level of the building.

Weber Hall (1956) contains the admissions and international admissions offices and the Office of Financial Aid. A new wing and renovations (2007) provide space for the expanding admissions and financial aid staff plus international admissions.

The Science Complex consists of six buildings. In the center is the Meyer Hall of Science (1970), where classrooms, laboratories, and offices for the departments of Biological and Allied Health Sciences, Chemistry and Biochemistry and Physics and Astronomy are located. To the west of the Meyer Hall of Science is the Biggs Engineering Building (1971), where classrooms, laboratories, and offices for the departments of Civil Engineering, Electrical & Computer Engineering and Computer Science, and Mechanical Engineering are located. The office of the dean of the College of Engineering is on the second floor. The computer center also is located in the engineering building. A two-story renovation and addition to the science and engineering buildings (1997) provides facilities for instruction including a lecture hall, classrooms, laboratories, seminar rooms, service areas and offices. To the east of the Meyer Hall of Science is the Robertson-Evans Pharmacy Building (1966), where classrooms, laboratories, and offices for the Department of Pharmacy Practice and the Department of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences are located. The office of the dean is located on the first floor. Pierstorf Addition (1995) includes a pharmacy museum, computer lab and student lounge. Opened in 2006, the Hakes-Pierstorf Family Pharmacy Education Center offers state-of-the-art classroom, laboratory and office spaces for pharmacy students and faculty. Completing the science complex is the Mathile Center for the Natural Sciences. Opened in 2009, the Mathile Center connects Meyer Hall and the Robertson-Evans Pharmacy Building. This student-centered research and learning facility blends hands-on teaching excellence with advanced technology in a functional modern environment. The building houses the Departments of Nursing and Mathematics and Statistics. The Astronomy Research Center opened in 2010 and is located just west of Wander baseball field. It has three permanently mounted telescopes, a roll-off roof, and high-tech charge-coupled device equipment to connect the telescopes with computers and monitors.

The ONU Sports Center was created in 1991 with the renovation of parts of the King-Horn Convocation and Physical Education Center (1974) and the addition of a field house complex and connecting addition. An addition and renovation also were completed in 1996. The Sports Center accommodates intercollegiate athletics, physical education and recreation activities, as well as commencements, special events, and assembly programs. King-Horn’s main floor seats 3,200 for basketball and 5,000 for convocations. A six-lane swimming pool, wrestling room, gymnastics room, dance room, two handball courts, elevated jogging track, multipurpose lounge, and offices and classrooms for the Department of Human Performance and Sport Sciences are among the facilities in King-Horn Center. The field house features a 200-meter indoor running track, cross courts for multipurpose use, two weight-training rooms, a fitness laboratory, and modern sports medicine and training areas. Ohio Northern University completed construction of an eight-lane, 400-meter outdoor track (1991). The track is encircled by mound-style seating with additional bleacher seating for 1,000. ONU also constructed a 2.5-mile outdoor jogging/walking path around the perimeter of campus (1991). The path is 8 feet wide and can be used for biking.

Lehr-Kennedy House (1902), once the retirement home of Ohio Northern’s first president, contains the offices of the director of multicultural development, the coordinator of International Student Services and several offices for multicultural student organizations.

Wesley Center Complex (1971) is composed of the English Chapel with seating for 475 plus multi-use areas and a small prayer room for campus ministry, outreach and multi-faith worship, and the Burgett Wing (2002) which houses the Department of Philosophy and Religion. Wilson Art Center and Elzay Gallery (1976) contains classrooms, studios and offices for the Department of Art and Design. The art gallery is connected to the classroom-studio building by a loggia and is used to display student and faculty exhibitions as well as the work of artists in invited shows. An addition (1995) includes a sculpture studio, ceramics studio, a lounge and a graphic design studio.

The Alumni House, at 115 W. Lima Ave., is located in the former president’s house. This updated facility not only provides offices for the Office of Alumni Relations, but also is a place to greet alumni returning to campus.

The Dicke House (2000) is home for the University’s president.

The Deming-Combe boulevard entrance to campus, located at Main Street and College Avenue, was completed in 1996.

The Dial-Roberson Stadium (2004) is an outdoor events stadium with training rooms and offices as well as modern facilities for ONU’s football fans to enjoy the Polar Bears.

The Inn at Ohio Northern University (2008) is a full-service, 73-bed hotel offering deluxe guestrooms plus one- and two-room suites, a dining room and pub. In addition, the hotel has more than 3,000 square feet of flexible meeting space, including a 14-seat executive boardroom.

Baker Commons, named in honor of Dr. Kendall L. Baker, president emeritus, and Mrs. Toby Baker, is located primarily in the southwest quadrant of the campus and includes the Dicke House, Stadium View Apartments, Klondike’s Den, Polar Place, Dial-Roberson Stadium, the Remington Walk, Northern Commons and the Affinity Village.